Essex County Sheriff's OfficeOfficer Jason HaaseNEWARK — An off-duty Essex County sheriff’s officer on his way to work was shot this morning while trying to arrest a suspect he had just spotted snatching a woman’s bag.

The officer, Jason Haase, 32, was shot in the buttocks by his own gun, after the suspect pulled the trigger on the holstered weapon as the two men scuffled on Broadway and 4th Avenue in Newark, Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said today.

Haase, a former county corrections officer who has been with the sheriff’s office for more than two years, was taken to University Hospital in Newark where he was treated and released later that day, Fontoura said.

The woman, Maria Montijo, 19, who lives near the scene of the robbery, was not seriously injured. Her bag, with wallet inside, was recovered.

The suspect was still being sought, but investigators are reviewing several nearby video surveillance cameras that may have captured the incident. The Essex County Prosecutor’s Office is involved in the investigation, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman.

Fontoura praised the Haase’s action, saying he "did everything he was supposed to do. His weapon was properly holstered. He just ran into a desperate man out there." Haase, he added, "was at the right place at the right time."

The incident happened a couple of blocks from a Bloomfield Avenue Dunkin’ Donuts, where Haase stops in each day before work for a cup of coffee, the sheriff said. Just before 6:30 a.m., Haase was in his vehicle when he saw the suspect grab the woman’s bag at Garside Street and 4th Avenue.

In uniform, Haase "jumps out of his car and announces himself immediately," Fontoura said. The suspect ran and Haase gave chase, catching up to the man a couple of blocks away on Broadway.

The two tussled and the suspect reached for the officer’s gun, authorities said. The weapon discharged, grazing the officer’s buttocks then ricochetting off his wallet and hitting his leg, Fontoura said.

Haase declined a request for an interview.

Montijo, still shaken from the attack, said she was walking to a bus stop on her way to work that morning, carrying a plastic bag from a local clothing store. The suspect approached, lit a cigarette then confronted her.

"He put his arm around my neck. He put me to sleep," she said.

Before she blacked out, Montijo scratched the man with her fingers, trying to fend him off.

When she woke, Montijo ran to a phone to call her mother. She never saw the officer, but was grateful for his help.

"I don’t know what would have happened to me if he wasn’t there," Montijo said.